There has long been a continuing and important need for tools which can be used to monitor and help evaluate training exercises for a variety of different training equipment and training scenarios. Known observation, compilation and formatting techniques are unable to efficiently handle the large quantity of data which can be developed and preferably is capturable during large scale training exercises.
In addition to an outstanding problem in data collection, known techniques and systems are unable to provide relatively short term turn-around of exercise results where large scale exercises have taken place. From an educational and training perspective, short turn-around times are preferred.
It has been observed, using the Army National Training Center as a model that, the turn-around time for a training debrief of a company-level exercise may require hours or weeks, depending on the number of participants and the level of detail in the critique. FIG. 1 illustrates elapsed times associated with various known training evaluation techniques.
In an attempt to address some of the previously recognized problems, both in terms of different types of training equipment as well as turn-around times needed for evaluation of an exercise, a standardized interactive network and protocol have been established. Known as the "Standard for Distributed Interactive Simulation", published by the Institute for Simulation and Training, Orlando, Fla., and available as IEEE Publication 1278.1 a network is defined which provides a common communication format or protocol for use in simulation systems and networks. This standard, known by the acronym of DIS creates a training environment wherein dissimilar training devices are able to receive or transmit information via the common format or protocol. As a result, that information can be accessed as needed by other DIS applications.
The information is transmitted in standardized format data packets, known as DIS protocol data units (PDU). A substantial quantity of PDU-type information is available on the network during a training exercise.
The PDU information, if properly acquired and utilized, potentially provides a vehicle for not only dealing with a variety of different training devices, but also an opportunity to provide improved management and control of an exercise, using fewer observers, to eliminate not only an error prone information collection and collation process, but also to provide an evaluation of the exercise in a much shorter time period. Hence, there is an ongoing need for systems and methods which can make effective use of large quantities of PDU-type information generated during a training exercise on a DIS-type network so as, at the very least, to provide more accurate evaluations of an exercise with shorter turn-around times. Preferably, such systems and methods could take full advantage of the standardized DIS-type protocol.
One feature that is available to influence a virtual battlefield is DIS Simulation Management (SIMAN). SIMAN refers to a special set of DIS PDUs that can influence any of the participants or automated foes in an exercise. The detailed definition for SIMAN can be found in "Enumeration and Bit-encoded Values for use with IEEE 1278.1-1994", published by Institute for Simulation and Training, 1994.